A few days had gone by since Jongdae, Yifan and Tao had arrived. Everyone had told their story again. Tao had been fascinated by Luhan's story and wanted to know everything they had managed to find out about the tree so far.

Junmyeon, on the other hand, had been completely stunned by all of their stories. Yifan's will to fight the Red Force was impressive, and to hear how his only friend had betrayed him had been terrible. Everyone had listened in silence as Jongdae told them how his mother had died and how he had discovered his power, not able to understand how he was able to feel so much sadness and not let it show.

Tao's story, however, had been nearly unbearable. The poor guy had started crying after a few sentences, which had led to Yifan doing the talking for him. All of them agreed that it was most likely for the Red Force to be responsible for the death of his family. The thought of the Red Force being able to do such a cruel thing without hesitation left all of them in pure terror. Even Luhan appeared to be shaken by the boy's past. Tao himself, however, was trying to push his memories as far away as possible. In one or the other way, he seemed even younger than Sehun, even though he was technically the older one.

Jongdae was a rather shy person, wandering around on his own and also trying to create lightning without any help. He kept insisting that he didn't want to hurt others. Junmyeon, however, suspected he was just not used to that many people around him. Jongdae had told them about how he hadn't met strangers often, usually being around his mother to care for her. Hopefully it wouldn't take him too long to get accustomed to them.

The people who still had the most problems with their powers were Kyungsoo, Yifan and Junmyeon. Yifan was able to let his scaled wings appear quite easily. However, he became more and more frustrated when he just couldn't figure out what else he was capable of. Tao kept insisting he was able to transform into a real dragon, while Jongin bugged him to try if he could spit fire. (What kind of fascination this guy had for fire was a question Junmyeon hadn't bothered asking.)

Kyungsoo succeeded in cracking up the earth rather effortlessly by now, but Sehun kept pestering him about the sensation thing and Kyungsoo was eager to make it work. From time to time, he would ask them to walk around or throw things on the ground so he could try to sense it in the earth, but it hadn't worked yet and whenever he tried this out, he would be completely exhausted afterwards.

The exhaustion was maybe their biggest problem. Junmyeon had already noticed how tired he felt after trying to use his power for a longer time, but he had somehow expected the others to be better at coping with it. However, every time Tao tried to make things age and reverse them, he complained about how draining this was, and Luhan had forbidden Jongin to teleport to places that were far away, because no one would know where he was if he fainted there.

"Where's Jongdae?" asked Jongin, turning around in a perplexed way. "Has he gone for a walk again?"

Luhan nodded, shooting pinecones at the trees absentmindedly. It was creepy how everyone kept struggling with finding an approach to their power, while there were three rocks bigger than his head and Tao hovering in the air around Luhan and the pinecones were shooting from the ground without him even looking in their direction. Well, he didn't need to, of course, but it was an unsettling sight. Junmyeon had hoped that there were others who managed to make the same amount of progress, just to make Luhan seem less terrifying. But the others were just as confused as he was.

"You keep wondering about this while it's everything you think about all day long?” Luhan asked, ignoring Tao's screams of terror and excitement. "Why don't you concentrate on your power instead of mine?"

“Because I'm trying to figure out how you're able to do this," Junmyeon shot back. "You could take it as a compliment instead of teasing me. And can't you read someone else's thoughts?"

"I'm currently trying to read multiple minds at once," Luhan stated proudly. "It works better than I thought, you guys don't seem to think as much as expected."

"Hey!" Tao protested while hanging upside down, "Hyung thinks a lot! Everyone does! And, um, could you, you know, turn me around again? I'm starting to feel nauseous..."

His last sentence resulted in him being turned around and plummeting to the ground instantly.

As if nothing had happened, Luhan kept talking. "It seems like Jongdae has come back, by the way."

If it was only Jongdae, then why was he frowning? Junmyeon wanted to ask him, but he was interrupted by the shouting of the missing guy, who was running towards them while flailing his arms.

"The village!" he shouted, shortly before he stood in front of them, bending over and coughing from his sprint. "The Patrol has come to the village."

"The Red Force Patrol?" All of a sudden, everyone was standing around Jongdae, staring at him and waiting for him to answer Sehun's question. "What would they want there?"

"Information, probably," murmured Luhan. "I told you some of the guys who attacked us got away."

"We need to help the villagers!" Jongin stated immediately. His fists were balled as if he was already imagining the fight. "They might kill them!"

"We need a plan first," Junmyeon insisted calmly. "If we barge in on this without thinking, we will get ourselves killed as well."

"And if they see us, they need to die before they can run back and report to their bosses," Luhan added quickly. The sooner the Red Force got word of them training here, the sooner they would send people to get them, and they clearly weren't ready for this yet.

Yifan scoffed. "Didn't you listen? We need to go! We have to help them!"

"You seem to be quite fond of the people who would have let us die within the blink of an eye," Luhan retorted. When he noticed that everyone was staring at him, he continued: "They will interrogate them first. We've got a bit time to at least not storm in completely unprepared."

Yifan, however, was not convinced at all. "This won't be of any use. We need to go now. Everyone who thinks the same can follow me."

Speechlessly, they watched as Tao and Jongin joined him and the three teleported on the spot.

Luhan groaned with frustration. "They're getting themselves killed before we're even complete."

"What do we do now?" Kyungsoo asked Junmyeon, his eyes still showing shock. "It will take some time until we get there."

Junmyeon tugged at his hair. If at least Jongin hadn't joined them... But they didn't have any other choice now. "We will go after them."

Luhan pressed his lips together.

"We'll think of something on the way and you can try to speak to us in our thoughts," Junmyeon assured him. They had only tried the speaking thing once, but it had worked. Junmyeon knew Luhan wasn't happy with how this situation had turned out, and neither was he. But he trusted Luhan to stay calm and collected in situations like this one, and he hoped he hadn't misjudged him.

Luhan nodded in defeat. "If anyone gets himself killed because of this, I'll murder him personally."

They didn't need another invitation. Everyone started running towards the village instantly. Kyungsoo seemed to be keeping an eye on Jongdae, as he had already been out of breath before this, and Junmyeon was the last, making sure no one fell back and to keep an eye on Luhan. He knew Luhan was an expert in multi-tasking, but if he tried linking their thoughts, figuring out what was going on in the village and contacting Yifan at the same time, he wouldn't be unlikely to stumble over a stone or something.

"Thank you," Luhan panted, and Junmyeon was almost sure he had misheard.

'Concentrate' a voice in his mind told him.

'You made it!' Junmyeon thought back, a euphoric grin spreading over his face. Now that they were able to communicate over thoughts, they had a huge advantage. 

'Don't be too optimistic' Luhan warned him. 'I don't think I can link all of us together at once.'

Junmyeon left it to him to figure these things out and tried to prepare for what they would have to face soon. He wasn't ready for a fight. He really wasn't. Except for Luhan, none of them had ever really fought against the Patrol, even though Jongin and Yifan liked to act as if they had. They didn't even know what was waiting for them. What kind of madness had driven these guys to jump right into the fight without thinking?

When they arrived, the fight was already in full swing. None of the villagers were to be seen, except for two lying on the ground motionlessly. Junmyeon felt terrible for hoping the Red Force had killed them, because, alternatively, one of the three just might have killed them by accident.

Which wasn't too unlikely now that he saw them fighting. Yifan had probably used his wings as a matter of surprise, seeing as he had somehow managed to get a weapon. He was trying to shoot his enemies, but he was obviously terrible at aiming. Most of the soldiers appeared to be in hiding, sneaking around and trying to catch him by surprise. There were at least five people who took turns with shooting. A few others were still unbothered by the interruption, kicking down doors and threatening villagers.

Jongin kept using his power as well. He teleported away as soon as someone was getting close, reappearing behind them and hitting them with branches or pans. Three of them were already unconscious, the remaining five shouting at each other, gazes constantly scanning their surroundings.

As Junmyeon checked on Tao, however, his breath hitched. The young guy was lying on the ground, trying to defend himself against two men who were approaching him by making the grass and roots grow, but they were just laughing.

'We need to help Tao' There was Luhan's voice again. This time, everyone looked at him in awe. 'Focus!', he bellowed at them.

'Kyungsoo and I will go help Tao', Junmyeon ordered hastily. 'Jongdae, Sehun, you help Yifan. Luhan, please don't act as if this wasn’t taking everything out of you already, you will hide here, try to keep our thoughts linked together and warn us whenever someone needs help.'

If it had been possible, Luhan would have probably sent him a death glare. Luckily, he gave in.

"You're right. You need someone to keep an eye on this, after all." He smirked at his joke.

"Thank you," Junmyeon mumbled shortly, before storming towards Tao, who was at the brink of being shot.

With a stone-cold expression and a swift movement of his hand, Kyungsoo made the earth crack open. The two men were struggling to remain standing and not fall into the pit that was already big enough for a human to slip through.

Now it was Junmyeon's turn. He stretched out his hand, trying to feel the water just how Sehun had told him. A spark of hope lit up inside him when he noticed a water container standing nearby. The water shot out of it, even more aggressively than intended, and crashed into the surprised soldiers' backs, making them fall into the pit.

Kyungsoo had arrived on its edge and pressed both palms on the ground with a frown and sweat dripping from his face. The rumbling of the earth was even louder than it had been before, and Kyungsoo looked as if he would pass out every second, but it worked. The crack disappeared, inclosing the two soldiers in the ground.

Both of them didn't even hesitate for a heartbeat before they shot towards Tao.

The young guy was partly leaning against a wall, trying to get up once he saw them advancing.

"Stay," Kyungsoo said softly, while Junmyeon started examining him. He had already been shot. Luckily, the bullet had only hit his arm, but the blood just didn't stop flowing.

Kyungsoo retrieved a tissue from somewhere and gave it to Junmyeon, who made sure to wrap it around Tao's arm tightly.

"It hurts," the boy whimpered, grabbing Junmyeon's hands.

"Your wound will be alright," answered Junmyeon, trying to make Tao look at him instead of the injury. "Trust me. We can find someone to help you after this is over."

Seeming a bit reassured, Tao nodded.

'Tao is safe,' Junmyeon thought as loudly as he could, hoping at least some were able to hear him through Luhan's link. 'He's been shot, but it doesn't seem to be severe.'

'Well done,' was Luhan's relieved answer. 'It will be enough if one of you stays with him to make sure he- who is that?'

Junmyeon looked around, trying to find the cause for Luhan's shocked question. It wasn't hard to find.

Two new guys had joined them, both of them aiming towards the centre of the fight, were Yifan, Jongdae and Sehun were struggling to keep their enemies at distance. One wore an insecure and troubled expression, but made up for it by shooting fireballs at the soldiers in red and white.

Fire. Junmyeon smiled to himself. Sehun and Jongin would love this guy.

The other boy seemed more confident in what he was doing. His spiteful glare was intimidating as he shot the enemies one after the other with a weapon he had taken from a dead soldier. Every time someone aimed to shoot him, he sent rays of blinding light towards them, making them miss their target.

The soldiers seemed to realize they didn't stand a chance anymore. They darted into different directions, trying to get away as quickly as possible.

"Don't let them flee!" Luhan had come out of his hiding place, and crashed one of their heads against a tree without so much as moving a fingertip. The eyes of the two new guys widened in admiration when they realized that this was his doing. They promptly moved to follow his order.

One of the soldiers ran into Junmyeon's direction. Before Junmyeon could think of defending himself, there was a strong gust of wind that swept the attacker away, crashing him into a wall and he fell to the ground and didn’t budge. Junmyeon gave Sehun a thankful nod. His best friend smiled at him.

As soon as the last Patrol member had been hit by a blinding lightning bolt, followed by loud, triumphant thunder, everyone assembled in the centre of the village. Tao had his uninjured arm slung around Kyungsoo's neck for support but was still conscious. Luhan seemed to be trying hard not to pass out, as well as Yifan. Some of the braver villagers stuck their heads out of the windows as soon as it had become silent around them. When they saw the boys, however, they flinched and retreated.

"Teleport us back," Luhan ordered Jongin. "We'll talk at home."

"What about them?" asked the exhausted teleporter, pointing towards the two new guys, who had joined them and now countered the confused gazes with slightly awkward smiles.

"Let's let them walk the way back to see whether they are worthy of joining us." The sarcasm in Luhan's voice was so sharp it made Sehun wince.

"Alright, alright," Jongin said quickly. "Make sure to hold onto me."

Yifan and Kyungsoo grabbed Jongin's shoulders. When Junmyeon felt a tug on his arm, he looked up. The guy with the fire power smiled at him sheepishly, while grabbing the other guy, who seemed to be a bit hesitant, by the wrist.

Teleporting was a strange feeling. Everything around him was rotating at an insanely high rate. As soon as he felt solid ground beneath his feet again, he lost his balance and toppled over.

He felt a bit embarrassed at first, but soon noticed that he wasn't the only one. Sehun was on the ground as well, looking as if he wanted to vomit. And, to his great amusement, Luhan grabbed Jongdae's shoulder for support for a second. 

"You could've gotten all of us killed!" However, there was no sign of insecurity in his voice. Yifan was the only one who was ready to argue. Jongin and Tao looked down in embarrassment.

"But no one died, right? Everything was a success!" Yifan argued. Jongdae snorted and everyone else looked at him in disbelief as well. Success?

"Two villagers died!" Luhan snapped. "The people you seemed so eager to protect! Don't worry, I read your memories, they were shot by the enemy. But this wouldn't have happened if we had stayed together and planned this whole attack!" Yifan tried to reply, but Luhan wasn't done yet. "Your best friend was shot!" This finally brought a pang of guilt into Yifan's eyes. "You were too busy with fighting to even notice how helpless he was. He could have died if we hadn't arrived in time!" Luhan was shivering with anger. Junmyeon agreed with everything he said, but he was also afraid Luhan might lose control over his power.

"Calm down," he said, stepping towards Luhan. "Shooting him with stones won't heal Tao."

"The wound isn’t deep, guys!" Tao claimed in an attempt to calm everyone down. "I think the bleeding has stopped."

"And who of us is a doctor and can make sure you won't get an infection?" Luhan grumbled.

It was only now that Junmyeon noticed the light power guy was clutching his stomach in pain. "Did this happen today?" he asked, the concern audible in his voice. The guy looked up. 

"That was a few days ago," his tall companion explained for him. "There was a Patrol in my village as well. They noticed he had fled from the city and kicked and punched him a few times before he was able to get away."

He was from the city? The others were staring at light guy as curiously as Junmyeon felt.

"While you were watching," the stranger added, not looking at him. The tall guy's expression fell.

"I helped you to flee, didn't I?"

"Who are you?" Kyungsoo asked before they could start arguing.

"I'm Chanyeol," the tall guy said, now smiling widely again.

"Baekhyun," the other one mumbled hesitantly.

The others introduced themselves as well. Obviously deciding his table would be too crammed with all of them, Luhan sat down where he was and waited for everyone to join him.

"Hey," Sehun suddenly said, "who's that?"

Everyone turned around to see someone walking towards them. Junmyeon wanted to ask Luhan why he hadn't warned them, but he probably wouldn't sense it if an army were to attack them in his state.

"Hi," the stranger said, smiling at them. "I'm Yixing." When he saw Tao, he became serious. "Have you been shot?"

Tao nodded, his face contorted with pain. Without hesitation, Yixing walked towards him and laid his hand over Tao's arm.

Yifan looked as if he wanted to jump up and pull him away, but Junmyeon stopped him. "Let's see what he's doing."

After a few seconds, Tao rolled up his sleeve, then looked at the new guy. "Wow," he said, staring at him in awe. Yixing chuckled and stepped back to let everyone see what he had done.

Tao's wound was completely gone. There was still a lot of blood everywhere, but the place where the bullet had hit him was completely healed.

"You- you've got healing powers?" Sehun asked, his eyes fixed on Tao's arm in fascination.

"Could you heal Baekhyun as well?" Chanyeol asked curiously.

Yixing turned around towards the guy who was pointing at his friend. Baekhyun's hands immediately left his stomach.

"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore, it's alright," he said, panicking.

"Internal bleedings can kill you," Kyungsoo told him. "If he wants to help you, just let him!"

Defeated, Baekhyun sighed. Yixing lifted his right hand in front of the stomach of the injured guy. It seemed to be a more serious wound than Tao’s. It took longer, and when he was done, he frowned and motioned for Baekhyun to move around to make sure he wasn’t hurt anymore. When he had made sure everything was alright, he gave the light guy a bright, dimpled smile, earning a hesitant 'Thank you'.

"Please sit down," Junmyeon suggested.

Yixing did as he was asked. When he told them how he had left his village, Luhan frowned.

"Your father knew mine?"

Yixing shrugged. "It seemed like it. Where is your father?"

Luhan's expression darkened and Yixing's face showed he regretted his question.

"It's alright." Luhan sighed. "I need to tell you about the Tree anyways."

Baekhyun frowned. "A tree?"

Luhan told his whole story again and how everyone had arrived here. After he was done, there was a grave silence.

"Don't you dare pity me," he suddenly hissed at Chanyeol.

The poor guy's eyes went wide as he tried to defend himself. "I didn't... you know, I wouldn't..."

"He can read your thoughts," Tao told him happily.

"And you won't pity him for long," Jongin mumbled.

Luhan ignored him. "Now there's only one person missing. He should arrive in a few days; he lived far north and got his power quite late."

"And then?" Chanyeol asked curiously.

"And then, we will try to figure out what to do with these powers," Luhan answered grimly.